Fireplace-damper controller



May 8, 1923.

inn)

E. F. DONLEY FIREPLACE DAMPER CONTROLLER Filed July 21 1921 Qua Patented May 8, 1923.

unrrsn era-res Parent caries.

ERNEST F. DONLEY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOE TO THE DONLEY'BROTHERS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, -A CORPORATION.

FIBEPLAGE-DAJVIPER CONTROLLER;

Application filed July 21, 1921, Serial N01 486,518.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST F. DoNLnY, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented new and usefu'l Improvements in Fireplace-Damper Controllers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fireplace flue dampers, and more particularly to means for operating such dampers.

The objects of my improvement are, primarily, to provide a fireplace damper controller which may be operated conveniently, and without soiling or burning the hands,

1 by manipulating a handle or knob projecting from the front wall of the fireplace;

which is complete in itself, requiring no interposition of a poker orother implement for its operation under any condition; and which may be operated while a blower or closed front is in position in the fireplace. Other objects are to provide positive regulation independent of the action of gravity uponthe damper; to effect close adjustment of the damper opening; and to provide self cleaning movable parts which will operate without clogging. Further objects are to supply damper operating means capable of ready installation in fireplace walls and flues of varying depths; which are simple, efiicient and inexpensive to construct; and which may be easily disconnected from the damper when the latter is to be removed for the purpose of cleaning the chimney flue, or for repairs. 7

Minor objects will become apparent from the following description of a preferred form of my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation from front to rear of a part of a fireplace and chimney showing a damperand its operating means installed therein. I

Fig. 2 is aside elevation, partly in section, of the essential features of the damper operating device.

Fig. 3 is a detailed rear elevation of the worm supporting bracket.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation takenv on line 44 of Fig. 2.

The reference numeral 1 indicates the. top of a fireplace, and 2 the lower end ofa smoke flue therefor, as ordinarily constructed in a chimney 3 of a'house. An iron damper frame is set in the masonry of the chimney, and usually comprises a hollow, wedge-shapedbody 4, its open bottom con.- forming to the top of the fireplace, its sides and ends inclined inwardly, and a surrounding horizontal flange 5 forming its base.

The rear part of the flange 5 rests upon the shelf 6 at. the bottom of the flue 2, and its forward portion, together with the inclined front side of the body 4, spans the fireplace 1 as 'a lintel supporting thewall above it.

The inclined rearside of the body 4 rises but slightly above the flange 5, thus forming a large rectangular flue orifice? in the rear slope ofthe damper frame. A flat-faced damper door 8 adapted to open and close the orifice .7 is hingedto, or otherwise mounted upon the rear-slope of the frame body 4. It is common to'set the lower edge of-thedoor 8 upon ears 9, one near each end of it and projecting from the frame body 4; and to provide upright stop lugs 10 on the ends of said body respectively to prevent endwise shifting of the damper door, asshown in Figs. 1 and 2. For regulating the position ofthe damper a rotatable spindle 11 is carried horizontally through an aperture 12 in the front wall of the frame body 4, the aperture being located midway transversely of said body and slightly above the flange 5, and throughthe front wall of the chimney 3 close to the top 1 of the fireplace opening. The spindle 11 is preferably mounted in a protecting tube 13 built into said chimney wall, and provided with a flange 14,.or its equivalent, aboutits outer, end to form, an .escu'tcheon against and protecting the facade of the chimney. A handle knob 15 for rotating the spindle 11 is fixed to the forward end of the latter, preferably by means of a set-screw 16 holding the end of the spindle in a socket in the knob. Thus, in supplying the trade the spindles are made of maximum required length, being easily out 01f when installed to suit the wall thickness of the chimney to be equipped.

A worm, or screw member 1.7,preferably of iron, is cast about, or otherwise fixedly mounted concentrically upon the rear portion of the spindle 11, and the inner termination of the worm is rotatably supported by a bracket 18 secured by one or more bolts 19 to the rear wall of the frame body 4. The worm 17 is encircled at its rear end beyond its thread with a V-shaped flange, or solid collar 20 fitted for insertion loosely in an aperture 21 in the flat upright terminal plate 22 of the bracket 18. The said aperture is circular on a vertical plane midway of the thickness of the plate 22, and its lower front and upper rear portions are semicircular, as'shown in Figs. 2 and 3; but, pendent from the upper front, and upstanding from the lower rear portions thereof, interior flanges 23 and 2 1 are provided, each having a beveled inner face to fit against the sloping sides of the collar 20 respectively; thus forming both a supporting and an endwise thrust bearing for the screw 17. A slight forward tilt of the bracket 18 per mits of ready insertion of the collar '20 in the aperture, or bearing 21 and the, said bracket member be cheaply cast of metal without employing cores. Obviously the relative positions of the flanges and semicircular portions of the bearing 21 may be interchanged if desired without affecting the utility of the device. I

The helical thread of the worm 17 is beveled, and narrow as compared with its pitch, so that a relatively broad flat bottom, as at 25, Fig.2, is formed between the threads. A traveling thrust collar 26 rides loosely upon' th'e worm 17, and has, projecting in- U ward from its bore, a pair of studs or teeth 2'7 and28 oppositely disposed, one above and one below the axis of the worm, and adapted to engage the sides of the thread of the latter. A pair of trunnions 29 project from the periphery of the thrust collar 26, being diametrically opposite each other in a horizontal plane. Y r v connecting fork has its root or stem por tion 30 hinged, as by a removable pin 31, be

tween a pair of lugs 32 projecting from the lower face of the damper 8: and its branches 33 are spread to span the collar 26. and also the bracket plate 22, being provided with apertures near their ends to receive the trunnions 29 respectively. The arms 33 of thefork should be sufii'ciently resilient laterally to be spread apart and sprung over the trunnions 29; thus it is preferred to employ a bar offlat steel bent double upon itself, and bifurcated as shown, which may be sprung over the trunnions by the hands in the ordinary small-sized installations.

It should now be understood that the damper 8 may be tightly closed, or raised to and held at any point up to its full open position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, by simply turning the handle knob 15 which is always cool and accessible. It will also be apparent that the movable and bearing parts are self-cleaning; that the reciprocating collar 26 with its teeth 27 and'28 readily break upand dislodge soot and ash deposits which gather upon the worm 17, and that the flanges23and 24: scrape such deposits from the thrust bearing collar 20. The worm, the traveling collar, the bracket, the damper and the knob are simple castinas which can be made without cores, and the other component parts are either standard 1 market stock or easily formed therefrom. The device may be readily installed or taken down. To remove the damper 8 for cleaning the chimney it is necessary only to spring the arms 33 of the connecting forkoff of the trunnions 29, whereupon, the damper and fork may be lifted, tilted and lowered, through the orifice 7'. I

I further-point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. In a damper controller, an upright plate bracketed out from a damper frame and having a circular aperture therein, upper and lower beveled flanges flush respectively with the front and rear faces of said plate and projecting into said aperture, a

worm encircled by a terminal flangecollar adapted to enter said aperture when tilted and to form both a rotatable and thrust bearing therein when the worm is normal. to the said plate, an actuating spindle for said worm, and means connected with saidworm for operating adamper.

2. In a fireplace damper controller, a bearing bracket adapted to be removably secured to a damper frame. a worm terminally and rotatably mounted in'a thrust bearing in said bracket and having an actuating spindle extended through the front wall of a fireplace, exterior handle means for, rotating said spindle, andsmeansriding upon and reciprocated by said worm for holding and iso nected to and operated by said collar for holding and shifting the position of a damper.

4. In a fireplace damper controller, a

' bearing bracket adapted to be removably secured to a damper frame, a Worm terminally and rotatably mounted in said bracket and having an actuating spindle extending to manipulating means at the front face of 10 a fireplace, a collar riding on said worm having interior teeth adapted to engage each side of the Worm thread respectively, trunnions oppositely disposed and projecting from the'periphery of said collar, a connecting fork having resilient branches provided with apertures adapted to be sprung over and to receive said trunnions respec tively, and means for operatively connecting V the stem of said fork to a damper.

ERNEST F. DONLEY. 

